Australia's 18 to 24 year-olds most at risk of violence (Media Release)

MEDIA RELEASE

11 December 2013

Embargo: 11.30 am (Canberra time)

225/2013

Australia's 18 to 24 year-olds most at risk ofviolence

Young people between the ages of 18 and 24 were the most likely group to have experienced some form of violence last year, according to a new report released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

"We found that over one in ten young women, and nearly one in four young men had experienced some form of violence during 2012." said Fiona Blackshaw from the ABS,

"Both men and women were more likely to have experienced physical violence than sexual violence. However, sexual violence was four times more common for women than men: 19 per cent of women had experienced sexual violence since the age of 15 compared to 4.5 per cent of men.

"We found that since the age of 15, men were more likely to have experienced violence from a stranger than by someone they knew, while the reverse was true for women.

"Women were more likely than men to have experienced violence by a partner since the age of 15: 17 per cent of women and 5.3 per cent of men had experienced violence by a partner. There's been no significant change in the proportion of men or women who experienced partner violence since 2005.

" When looking at a person's most recent incident of physical assault by a male, the most likely location for a woman to be physically assaulted by a male was in their home, The most common place for men to be physically assaulted by a male was at a place of entertainment or recreation.

"We also found that both men and women were unlikely to report their most recent incident of physical assault by a male to the police," said Ms Blackshaw.

This is also the first time that the ABS has collected information on the prevalence of emotional abuse by a partner - this includes things like psychological and financial abuse. The ABS found that since the age of 15, women were more likely than men to have experienced emotional abuse by a partner: 25 per cent of women compared to 14 per cent of men.

Media notes:

The Personal Safety Survey collected information from men and women aged 18 years and over about their experience of violence since the age of 15.

Violence is defined as any incident involving the occurrence, attempt or threat of either physical or sexual assault experienced by a person since the age of 15. Physical assault involves the use of physical force with the intent to harm or frighten a person. Physical threat is an attempt to inflict physical harm or a threat or suggestion of intent to inflict physical harm, made face-to-face where the person believes it is able to and likely to be carried out. Sexual assault is an act of a sexual nature carried out against a person's will through the use of physical force, intimidation or coercion, and any attempts to do this. Sexual threat is the threat of an act of a sexual nature, made face-to-face where the person believes it is able to and likely to be carried out.

The term 'partner' in the Personal Safety Survey is used to describe a person the respondent lives with, or lived with at some point, in a married or de facto relationship.

When reporting ABS data, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or ABS) must be attributed as the source.